#no pacts no contracts just someone who loves him and somewhere safe to be - and when he's ready he has all the children he wants

[ride-a-dromedary]

Wyll taking Halsin to the Wilden Oak after observing how much he was struggling to adapt to the City, thinking it would cheer him up *and* be special enough that maybe he can work up the nerve to ask him something important. Telling him about how he used to daydream about the stories it could tell him, and how it brought him comfort - how it may bring him comfort as well. And maybe he thinks he's talking too much, too fast, but it all pours out of him with heart-aching sincerity.

Halsin listening thoughtfully to Wyll's fanciful dreams of dragons and the Weave, and chuckling fondly at how eager he is; how whimsical he makes everything sound. Bubbling over with how happy it makes him to hear Wyll so beautifully matching the splendor of this tree with such fanciful tales, admiring it for what it is.

Wyll's face heating up, thinking he must be laughing at his stories, and ah, hells, he's gone and fumbled this, of course an Archdruid would think fairytales of trees to be foolish and childish. Mumbling it must sound silly to him.

Halsin frowning then, brought out of his affectionate thoughts. "Oh, no, not at all. I think it's wonderful. Here, let me show you something."

Halsin bringing Wyll's hand up to the bark of the tree and pressing it beneath his own to the ridges and grooves, encouraging him to listen closely again as he had as a boy. Telling him that trees speak to those who care to hear them, even if they cannot understand them. Wyll closing his eyes, flustered at how close they are, but - after a moment of quiet - hearing the barest tendrils of something touching the edges of his mind. Nothing he is able to understand, but he swears he feels it; more than he ever has before.

Halsin himself listening and catching the discernable memories the oak is able to give him amidst the transfer - the tiniest glimpses of generations and magic long past. Perhaps even a dragon cutting its lightning path through the sky, eons ago. He passes anything translatable gently off to Wyll, who listens, enraptured.

The Wilden reveals other things - other terrible things. Other sad things and tragic things, no where near the fairytales that Wyll spins. Halsin does not pass these memories on, but judging by the frown on Wyll's face, he senses it.

But there is something else - something closer to the heart - it calls Wyll "tree friend" - flashes of Wyll as a young boy, collecting its leaves from the ground. Of an older Wyll curled in on himself in the tangle of its roots, heartbroken; an even older Wyll turning his face to the dappled sun and smiling, little golden bands sparkling in his hair.

Halsin taking Wyll by the hand and bringing him deeper into the forest, scouting a good spot to plant the tiny wishing acorn Wyll had pressed bashfully into his palm with stories of his mother. Burying the seed deep into the ground so its roots may grow anew, just as glorious as its parent - waiting to bring joy to another a century down the line. Just as their lives have taken root within one another, tangled and new, but full of life.

#BG3 Musing #Halsin #Wyll Ravengard #wyllsin #the more i think about it the more i can connect these romance paths thematically near perfectly - i can blend them #and it doesn't lead into halsin's romance scene - not yet - but damn it sure does kickstart it #(i'm connecting the dots - you're not connecting shi- I'M CONNECTING THEM) #i don't think they get married because that's not really something elves do on the regular if at all - especially wood elves #which may be a disappointment to wyll at first because he has all these fanciful notions of relationships and fairytales - but also? #i believe they'd stay together for the rest of wyll's life - like i genuinely bonafide can see that #and wyll would thrive because he would be *free* for the first time in forever - he'd blossom and live and have someone to come back to #who would love and cherish him as much as if they'd never parted for a single moment #no pacts no contracts just someone who loves him and somewhere safe to be - and when he's ready he has all the children he wants #also: wyll 'canonically chases after mermaids' ravengard + halsin 'i could attempt a kelpie' silverbough js

[vagrantblvrd]

Jeremwood Kings AU with Mad Kin!Ryan? ALL the angst, pleae?

Yessssssssssssss.

Like, I’m imagining this whole Thing where one of Ryan’s ancestors made this  - literal – devil’s deal generations ago, right?

Maybe they weren’t strictly speaking royal blood at the time or some such, just.

Some poor bastard with a knack for magic and this heart’s true love that was sick or dying or captured by these baddies and they knew they weren’t strong enough to save them on their own, right? (And for Plot Reasons no one is willing/able to help.)

So desperate, vulnerable, they make the perfect target for a demon, right?

Whispers in their ears at the right moment and all these hints and such and Ryan’s ancestor comes across this summoning spell or ritual or whatever and calls up this demon. Promises anything they have to offer to save their loved one and this pact is struck and all the rest.

Their loved one is saved and all is well, right?

(But no, no. Because there is this chain connecting Ryan’s ancestor’s soul to a demon and this pact, a contract between them.)

Time passes and at first his ancestor thinks the demon’s forgotten about one puny mortal and so on?

But, again, no.

The pact, contract, had all this fine print to it that Ryan’s ancestor was too distraught to pay attention to at the time. One that extends to their bloodline for generations after they pass on – and alright, yes. Part of it was that the demon would come to collect when it so chose, either during Ryan’s ancestor’s time or who knows how long afterward, right?

And humans, foolish, stupid humans in all their arrogance are so short-sighted, aren’t they?

Ryan’s ancestor stops worrying the demon will come for its due as the years pass and nothing terrible happens to them. They and their heart’s true love live long, full lives without serious illness and maybe their deal with the demon was a fever dream brought on by fear and stress and all that wonderful bullshit.

But then they have children, and dreams where the demon pops in to congratulate them on such healthy, strong offspring?

And that fear returns, has Ryan’s ancestor doing whatever they can to protect their children from the demon and its ~wiles best they can.

Makes sure they learn magic if they show a talent for it and warn against the dangers of entering into pacts with otherworldly creatures – seems a bit manic about it, but they’re good warnings – and so on and so forth.

The demon is just. It’s around and so amused at all of this and lets it happen because it’s immortal, after all.

Years pass, generations pass, and Ryan’s ancestor dies without the demon coming to collect its due, and  their secret regarding the demon and said pact/contract dies with them.

Or would, if Ryan’s family wasn’t so…them.

Maybe these things would have come to pass without the demon’s influence/interference, maybe not, but they turn out to have a decided talent/ability when it comes to magic.

Powerful magic users as far back as Ryan can trace his bloodline, and that draws attention. (The right/wrong kind.)

They get involved in kerfuffles and conflicts, all-out war at times and somehow the Haywood line comes to claim a throne, become royalty. (And, some stories say, that’s where the madness started. Power corrupts, after all.)

In reality the demon was working behind the scenes all this time, you see. (Whispers in someone’s ear at the right time. Helpful nudge here or there to tip the scales and Ryan’s ancestors led their family into ruin all on their own, in the end, didn’t they?)

There are stories about the Haywood bloodline. Romantic ballads and all that about that first ancestor who struck a deal that had such far-reaching effects they could have never foreseen in that small room lit by candles and scent of their own blood in the air as they summoned the demon.

Heart’s true love and desperation and a miracle that saved them and truth twisted and lost to time. (The atrocities others in his family have wrought and so on and so on.)

Ryan’s heard them all, and knows the truth.

That demon? Oh, it’s still pulling strings behind the scenes, but Ryan knows about it now. Met it when he came of age and found himself staring at a face not his own in the mirror. Learned all about what his ancestor did for love, the fate they doomed their bloodline to because the demon may not directly interfere, but it does love to remind them about the pact/contract and how their bloodline is doomed and so on.

And.

Ryan knows the demon is patient, content to watch his family fumble their way through life knowing it’s a matter of time until they stumble, falter.

There were a few who tried to break the pact/contract and suffered for it, went mad in the eyes of their people and drenched the kingdom in blood and misery, suffering, until someone put a stop to it. Others who were resigned to it and didn’t go mad quite so dramatically, but it’s clear something was affecting their judgment as time wore on and they became cold and cruel.

And Ryan.

He tries, he does.

Studies everything he can on the matter and tries to close his heart off to love – weakness that started it all – but it’s useless, futile.

Because there’s this guard, you see.

Tasked to serve as Ryan’s personal guard and this bright smile and hearty laugh and nothing Ryan does to stop it keeps him from growing fond of Jeremy.

This little idiot not put-off at how coldly, dismissively Ryan treats him in a vain attempt to distance himself, avoid falling into the same traps his ancestors did.

But then there’s an assassin and a poisoned blade and Jeremy dying by inches and no cure and Ryan – well.

He makes the same mistake so many of his ancestors did – and there have been so many over the centuries, haven’t there?

Desperate and vulnerable and their family’s already turned to the demon once, what difference does one more time make?

So.

He summons the demon and dooms himself even as Jeremy recovers. (For love.)

Jeremy recovers, grateful to see Ryan’s safe, because of course he’s fallen in love with Ryan over time as well, right?

Prickly and contrary, but Jeremy’s seen how kind he is. Kind and thoughtful and striving to undo the harm his ancestors did to their kingdom. Doing his best to be the ruler the kingdom needs and there were times where Ryan’s cold, uncaring mask slipped and he caught a warm smile cast in his direction. Gentle laughter and just.

How could he not love Ryan?

But, again, Ryan’s made a deal, a pact, with the demon and it collects.

Tired of waiting or perhaps it’s simply curious or looking for a spot of entertainment and Ryan gets a little bit (lot) possessed. (Forced to watch from the confines of his mind where the demon keeps him safely locked away.)

Ryan seems to become the tyrant he swore he would never be and an uprising, rebellion. (Madness in their blood.)

Jeremy forced to face him down, heartbroken at the man Ryan’s become not knowing about the demon and then!

Ryan and his magic and these doppelgangers, replicas of himself he can use as decoys and Jeremy with this habit of falling for it.

(The times Ryan used them before was to throw enemies/assassins off his trail long enough to sneak up behind them, but to Jeremy just arrived on the scene it just looked like Ryan being a reckless idiot and just. He’s far too devoted to Ryan and keeping him alive that sometimes he reacts first.)Anyway, anyway.

Jeremy falls for one of his replicas again in their (first!) confrontation, and the real Ryan catches him, dagger in Jeremy’s side and this unnatural darkness to his eyes.

“You never learn, do you?”

Jeremy thinks the words are for him, an echo of something Ryan’s said to him before when the two of them trained or some other assassination attempt and the giddy relief of being alive at the end of it, but no.

Or not entirely.

Ryan, you see, is trying to break out of the prison the demon’s placed him in, raging and railing at his captor and watching helplessly and just.

Yesssssss.

The demon leaves Jeremy for dead and goes to quell the uprising and doesn’t realize the mistake it’s made because Jeremy knows something isn’t right. That what he saw in Ryan’s eyes wasn’t madness, and he vows to find a way to put an end to it. (No matter the cost.)

And then, like.

Epic quest of finding out what happened to Ryan wherein he meets the rest of the AH crew and they form this group intent on stopping the demon. (Intertwining plotlines and motivations that align thanks to the convenience of Plot Reasons in which this same demon was responsible for Tragic Backstories for them or old debts/favors owed to Ryan and so on.)

Another epic battle that Jeremy and the others win, and Ryan still trapped in his head and viciously gratified at the demon’s panic as Jeremy proves that yes, he can break the pact/contract kill the demon. (OR at least banish it back to whatever hellscape it came from where it won’t be able to touch Ryan or any of his bloodline ever again.)

The demon confused as to why Ryan isn’t scared of death – because surely he’ll die too, whatever Jeremy and the others up to something that would kill them both – but Ryan?

No.

Willing to do what it takes to stop the demon, and it’s all very Dramatic and Heroic and Jeremy and the others get rid of the demon leaving Ryan on the brink of death (DRAMA) for a fair amount of time until he recovers.

Wakes up one day in a tiny cabin somewhere and the sound of someone chopping wood? Gets up and hobbles his way to the door and wobbles his way to where he can see Jeremy chopping firewood, that they’re in some remote place in the woods and is ??? because this isn’t what he was expecting

Jeremy turning to see him and this horrible look on his face of happiness/relief/fear because talk about awkward, right?

(The whole bit where they tried to kill one another. Kind of sort of. And also idiots who spent a lot of time mutually pining for one another and it’s just. Yeah.)

Jeremy explaining to Ryan how he went on his Epic Quest to save Ryan (Ryan thinking that Jeremy really shouldn’t have because he’s not worth it and so on and just. DRAMA.) Finally Jeremy tells Ryan they had to tell everyone else Ryan was killed – the demon had done so many horrible things it was the only way to bring peace to the kingdom, thinking the Mad King had been killed and his evil reign stopped and so on.

Someone else has taken over ruling the kingdom and it’s in the process of rebuilding itself.

They’re several kingdoms away on a remote plot of land and whoever the ruler is in this kingdom, they’re a friend of Ryan’s and Jeremy’s who will help them keep their secret.

Old debts and favors owed and Ryan all quietly surprised and touched that it would get him this after everything he did – and this is where Jeremy gets angry, fired up, because none of this was Ryan’s fault and some angry yelling from both of them as Ryan tries to accept blame that isn’t his and Jeremy telling him he’s an idiot.

And then, you know.

Ryan telling Jeremy how scared he was at the thought of being the one responsible for his death way back when with the stabbing him and everything? How he relived that moment over and over – his own mind and the demon punishing him for trying to fight back – and Jeremy telling him he’s a damned idiot?

Also, confessing the times he was afraid he’d imagined seeing the demon in Ryan’s eyes that day, thought it was wishful thinking. An excuse made to himself because Ryan had really gone mad and he couldn’t accept it and how close he came to giving up on saving Ryan at times.

FEELS.

And then!

Gentle face touches because Ryan never imagined he could have a second chance like this, just him and Jeremy and whatever the future holds for them.

Jeremy looking up at him with all this love for him in his eyes and then smooches.

ALL the smooches and laughter and love.

(Also, like. A bumpy road back to something anywhere near okay for both of them, but they get their happily ever after and also all these assholes poking their noses into their business because you know they would.)

#ragehappy #jeremwood #kings au #technically not a fic #vagrant fic #prompt fills #Anonymous

[herobrize]

A WRONG MATHEMATICAL CALCULATION

- Did you finally read the Communist Manifesto in quarantine? - Arthur wanted to know the instant James sat at the table with the orders of both in hand, they were in a cafeteria at the back of a gallery in the shopping center of the town, James thought of taking him to another place, more reserved, but they used to attending that place when they were in the theater course and for their happiness, no one had noticed the singer there, maybe it was because he had dyed his hair, losing his famous blond tone at the beginning of his personality crisis.

- Are you still trying to be a communist? - He laughed at the attempt to escape the subject of the ex-blond, and James laughed because Arthur laughed. The huge guy sitting in front of him, was not just part of a past that he thought he would never revisit, he was James Benji, a big name in the music industry and who was going through a difficult time in his career, it was funny how he he had no strength to fight and find a solution even though everyone around him said that what happened was not exactly bad, because well, it did not change anything at all, however he could use that moment to get away a little without being charged by everyone the sides, and when he saw it, he was already returning to his old city, where his best friend was still living, the problem was, were they still friends?

- No, I am a socialist, anyway you would not accept the ideas of this movement, - Arthur said, tasting his sweet pie, James mentally agreed without waiting for the sentence to resolve, he trusted the intelligence and observation of the other more than anyone. - it is impossible to have a balance in the financial interests of the artist with the record company nowadays that everyone consumes music in the most intense way possible, sometimes I think we want to fill our void so much that for that we have to destroy who we put as idols, like Jesus Christ, you know.

- I don't know about that part, but the rest I agree, something happened, I think you don't know, you were never very attached to that kind of way of producing music ...

- I was never connected to industrialized music, it's different, but tell me, what happened?

- A guy bought the record company where I work, and with that, he managed to have the copyright in all my songs and other singers too, everyone knew that this contract was going on, but we never really knew who was interested.

- So, before this guy, the copyright of your songs belonged to the record company?

- Yes, I can have my name strong in the market, but that doesn't change a contract signed at the age of twenty, I didn't want to think about it now, but ... I have two options, I stay at the label and see the money made with my art ending up in the hands of shit or going out and looking for another record label, the problem is how it can tarnish my image if done the wrong way.

- But James, it is obvious that you should leave if all this is affecting you so much, it must be that your defense instinct that is making you hesitate like that. To put it bluntly, he thought: Have you always been like this or have you become like that because of the books you write? Thinking about it, reminded him of the pact they made when they were in the early years of college, What if we had never done that? Had our relationship not been for the sentimental lands and had been established only in the seas of pleasure? Where would they have gone? Why am I sure we would still be together?

- I am going out, I just need some time, I need to do this without having to leave everything. - replied, totally defensive, devoured the rest of his pie and asked for one more. - Aren't you happy to see me?

- Of course I'm happy to see you again, even if the reason isn't exactly missing me. - Arthur commented in a lighter tone, it seemed that the boy had some kind of access to a range of different personalities, which he entered without effort.

- I wish I had come before, but things never worked out as I wanted, but I also invited you several times and you didn't go. - James said without realizing he was crossing his arms.

- Unfortunately Rio is a bit against me, at most I will go to São Paulo to participate in a lecture or interview about my books. - Arthur explained, drinking his tea.

Did James want to punch himself, the second or third time he had treated that conversation like a sea battle? This is not going well. And he had to admit, even if his pride hurt, that his temper was linked to freshly refreshed memories of his old life, a kaleidoscope of memories, mixing moments where he laughed, moments where he got angry, a big part of his life was linked to the boy in front of him, he introduced him to his relatives, to his colleagues, put him on his way and took it out too, now he was thinking and thinking.

- I wanted you to come back with me, - he finally revealed the real reason for the meeting. Arthur's dark eyes lifted to meet theirs, his lips parted in that surprised expression. - I need someone with me, at least for a few days.

E X P E C T A N C Y

- So, am I really the reason for your visit ...? - he dared to ask.

- Of course, Arthur, I didn't come to just vent, I always do this with my manager, I miss a friend in my life.

The others' hands ran down the polished wooden table to find his, the fingers joined in a pleasant grip, when was the last time something simple like that left him so moved?

- Arthur and James against the world, as in the old days of theater? - he asked.

- Just like in the old days of theater, only this time it will be in Rio.

- It will be really interesting, I'm annoyed that you took so long to touch, but at least it happened ...

- So, are you up?

- I need to review some things first, I'm living on rent, I need to notify the owner of the house and ...

James' thoughts were a soup of unresolved feelings that bubbled with a positive response. How ridiculous to have forgotten how Arthur made him feel, if he cursed himself for not making the proposal at that time, he would be somewhere else, producing a completely different but safe song, because he knew that if Arthur were with him, he would never have signed that contract , and if I had, I would face that moment of personal crisis knowing that I would be under the support of those who truly love. Was James happy? Would it have made Arthur happy? All these years they were separated because of a succession of idiotic fights, which I combined in a divergence of ideas to perform a horror play, enough for both of them to give up the theater and then to go after their own dreams, which was good, one became a singer, the other became a writer, two little plants that didn't share the same piece of land, grew far, far away, and now, playing luck, they were back around each other. But in the end, James had never done anything good for Arthur, now would be his chance.

"I died of missing you," he revealed, more easily. - I think I even got sick.

- But passed. - remembered Arthur.

- Not the way I wanted to.

- You should have called me, if you knew ... I would fix it.

- These years have been difficult, I think this change in my life had not happened, maybe I would still be alienated.

- What do you want to do? When I return to Rio.

- I want a simple year, to get away from them, the media, the networks, and I want to be accompanied in this.

- Yeah, it looks like a good plan. - A familiar smile appeared, small and sweet, of the boy crazy about books and tea.

R E A L I T Y

- So, am I really the reason for your visit ...?

- Of course, Arthur, I didn't come to just vent, I always do this with my manager, I miss a friend in my life.

Arthur settled himself in his chair, a little uncomfortable, James didn't understand how his request could cause such a reaction.

- I can’t do it. - he said clearly and directly.

- Why not?

If he could read his mind, he would discover that not all of those years were good for Arthur, in fact, they were the most difficult years, at the encouragement of colleagues in the group, Arthur confused his love for James, a feeling connected to the strong friendship that arose when they met on the theater course, with an unbridled passion, separating one thing from the other hurt him too much, especially when he saw James leaving the bonds that bound him in the city to go after his dream of living on music so easily, James never saw him as a suitor, never loved him as a passionate boy, however there was a time, the most confusing of all, that they started sleeping together when the rehearsals of the plays got more intense, and those nights, their bodies attracted, however so far, nothing much, Arthur had already had sex with other friends, James too, the more he did the exercise of separating events from the expectations his feelings created, the more pain he felt.

It was not a surprise when James used the one thing that bothered him about the scapegoat, to let him down without reason to feel guilty. How was it possible for them to be able to take anything further if Arthur demanded his presence at rehearsals even though he knew how difficult it was to get time off at work, when Arthur tried to defend his side, James was silent, and the more he tried to argue that the play would never would be ready in the expected time of the presentation with that attitude, cooler and dissatisfied James would be. However, to leave the city and appear with music blaring both on the internet and on the radio, his service as a waiter in the city's most chic restaurant has become a dust, instead of the huge stone in his path. Arthur suffered, of course, it was a hard blow, at first he was in limbo that consumed him for months, sometimes he spent hours trying to analyze several details in the dynamics that the friendship had looking for some sign, this obsession was decreasing as the boy wrote, on paper he wrote long paragraphs like those Jews who dedicate their lives to analyze a single passage of the Talmud, after of a year, the beginning of an improvement came, he discovered that he was good at writing, tried to create short stories about the day-to-day in the small town and posted them on a website, then some praise and criticism made him reflect on a new possibility: what if he was a writer?

- Outside of here, you would gain more prominence, more readers. - James started to argue. - You know that if I asked, my fans would buy your books like water.

Arthur nodded.

- It's true, but if you don't know, seeking fame has ceased to be a goal for me years ago.

A silence came over the table.

"To tell you the truth, I don't know what to do," the singer admitted with difficulty. - I always had this idea in my head that if everything went bad, I could find an answer in you.

- Do you still see me as an enhanced version of your ex-boyfriends?

- No, of course not.

- I think you do, I remember that it scared you to see how they gave up trying to exalt you, you never realized that they wanted a reciprocity in that? I think I was so happy to meet someone, aesthetically handsome like you and with the same tastes of mine that I put you as a priority until this was untenable.

Arthur felt bad for having chosen those words, they sounded too artificial, but what to use in place of "aesthetically beautiful" when in fact he was surprised to receive attention from a boy who attracted so many looks?

- I'm sorry if I didn't want to date you, it wasn't about that at the time, I didn't want you that way, the way you wanted to.

- I think it was a mistake to come and meet you. - he concluded. - I haven't thought about the theater in years.

It is likely that he will not return, he reflected. If you come back, you won't be looking for me again. But for him, the pain of ending what never existed was nothing compared to the pain I used to feel when I was beside him, with or without his hand in hand, with or without kisses, with or without his smell, with or without your thick voice speaking or singing. Arthur brought him kindness as a gift, and it was not enough to keep him, now that gift was part of him, only him and not whoever wanted it. Really, he thought as he managed to call the woman and ask for the bill, really, people accept the love they think they deserve. The woman came and he asked for the bill, she asked for a moment and left them alone again.

- Well, if I understand your problem, you really should leave this label, people like you always find a good offer, if it doesn't appear, look for one, it's not difficult. - advised him.

- It seems so obvious. - he said, and thought about it a bit, looking for an offer, feeling a little stupid, he thought Arthur would hold his hand, but he just took out his cell phone to check the time, did he have any appointments? - It seems so difficult now, to do something without being sure that it will not be taken from me. - there were tears in his eyes, they started to flow slowly, he wiped them with the palm of his hands.

- We are artists, James, we live in painful and incredible situations, but you were always afraid of being an artist, you will know that this is your problem.

James sincerely agreed.

- I made you hate me with no chance of returning, right?

- You let me love you in a way that I will never be able to feel it for anyone else, but I don't think I hate you for it.

- Can I try to fix this? - he asked in one last attempt. - I'm already here, it's the most I have to offer.

- I'm fine. - Arthur said firmly not to cry, because in the end he had given the answers James was looking for.

END.

#short story #my thoughts #you broke my heart #the heart wants what the heart wants #first words #romance gay #gay love #quarentine #singer #writer